A Tale of Mercenaries
by Zabbie
Summary: When Gray Mann's robots have eradicated the BLU Team and are about the take over Teufort, the RED mercs are the only ones left to fight. The Engineer may have an idea, but he'll need assistance - they all do. Which is why Miss Pauling decides to play her secret cards: two rogue mercs the team had never heard of step in, and they don't really like robots.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Walkyrie and the Slenderman.**

It was a cold night in Chicago – one of those misty nights when cats silently cross the street, their sharp, dark silhouette floating in the surreal emptiness of the road. There was no wind at all, and apart from the occasional dog barking at one of the aforementioned cats, there was not a sound to be heard for the inattentive ear. But Christina was no inattentive ear. Quite the opposite, in fact. Apart for her slow, heavy footsteps on the cobblestone, she could also hear those of her friend, Charlie – much lighter and furtive. Charlie was walking just a few steps from her, the hood of her hoodie casting a shadow on her face - but Christina knew she was listening and watching, too. They were a strange, enigmatic duet to be seen in the night: Christina's tall and buff silhouette made an interesting contrast with that of Charlie, who was also very tall for a woman, but much leaner. If someone had spotted them, they could have mistaken them for a Walkyrie walking side by side with Slenderman. Christina focused again: somewhere in the distance she could hear a very loud television set, probably one of these half-deaf elderlies who have no idea that watching variety shows so loud at that time of the night was close to indecent. Christina didn't like it. Christina preferred silence. Or Nina Simone's voice. In a street behind them, a car drove by, but didn't turn in their direction. They absolutely, completely alone. Which was probably a good thing, considering _who_ they were about to meet.

The oddly assorted pair made their way into a shallow street and stopped by the entrance of a tiny, obscure pub, that none of them would ever enter if it weren't for their host. Charlie and Christina glanced at each other.

"You sure this is the place?" Christina asked, and Charlie nodded.

"Affirmative. Can't say I'm really surprised, remember that one time she asked us to meet her at this abandoned amusement park?"

"I'd rather forget it. At least we might get something to drink this time. I could do with a pint."

Charlie smiled at her friend and associate and pushed the door, revealing what looked like a tradition Irish pub, with wooden tables and benches, a television broadcasting a rugby game, and of course the heavy smell of whiskey, beer and cigarettes. No one seemed to notice them, as everyone was focused on the game and from time to time would bark insults at the unfortunate television set. Christina's scanned the area, and when she found who she was looking for, she touched Charlie's shoulder.

"She's here."

Charlie followed her eyes, and identified their contact. They made their way to the table and sat in front of the young, smart-looking woman who was amiably, but mysteriously smiling at them.

"Miss Pauling. What a pleasure to see you again." Charlie said, pushing her hood back and smiling at their employer.

"The pleasure is mine, ladies. How long has it been? Two years?" Miss Pauling replied, visibly pleased to see them, but keeping it ever so professional.

"And a couple of months, yes. So, how are things with your mercenaries? Still giving you grey hair?" Charlie asked.

"The mercs are fine, it's more the robots that I am worried about. Which is the reason why I asked you to meet me…"

"Oh yeah, thanks for bailing us out, Miss Pauling. I'm not entirely sure how we would have gotten out of this one if it hadn't been for you. We owe you one." Miss Pauling smile at Christina's intervention. Those two always seemed to catch up incredibly quickly, even when she was making efforts to remain anonymous. But when two of her secret mercenaries were in jail for a dozen of burglaries, she didn't really have the time to cover up her trail – especially when one of them was an expert in tracking and hacking.

"We heard about the robots." Christina continued. "Spy has been in touch."

"You two are the strangest pair of friends I have ever seen." Miss Pauling sighed, much to Christina's amusement. "Anyway, so you know about the robots. The BLU team has joined forces with them – those who haven't been _butchered_ , I mean. The RED are the only thing left between the bots and Teufort, and I'm afraid they will not last long without assistance."

"Your RED are tough cookies, Miss Pauling." Charlie jumped in, rising an eyebrow. "If your men are overwhelmed by the number of robots, I doubt that the two of us will make any difference. Unless you found something…?"

"In a way, yes. Unfortunately I can't tell you all the details, but your… unique set of skills could help us a great deal. But you'll have to go to Teufort and remain there for as long as the operations will last."

Christina and Charlie looked at each other, as if communicating with each other without having to say a word. Miss Pauling had always admired that in them. They had been working together for so long, a glance sufficed to say it all. A very strange duet indeed, she thought. Christina was like a Viking – the tallest, strongest woman Miss Pauling had had the opportunity to meet, in a way she reminded her of Heavy. But whereas Heavy specialized in heavy weapons and didn't move much, Christina was a proper athlete. She was nothing like the gentle, bear-like giant from Russia. More like… yeah, a Walkyrie. Or any sort of super-strong Scandinavian deity, really. A female version of Thor, maybe? Anyway, it looked like she could break Charlie in two anytime; Charlie was athletic in her own way, but definitely not muscular. She was skinny, pale, and knew perfectly well that she wasn't a fighter like Christina, which is why, when they teamed-up, she elected to be the brains. Christina was a very intelligent woman, but Charlie was more quick-witted and cunning, and liked nothing more than puzzles and challenges. Very strange women indeed.

"Well, I think we both have reached the same decision." Charlie finally said after a few seconds. "When do we get to Teufort?"

"Next week." Miss Pauling smiled, not the least surprised. "I need to get your contracts and uniforms ready. Your weapons will be shipped there for your arrival."

"Pleasure to work with you again, Miss Pauling. It had definitely been too long."

"I agree. All the details of the mission will be revealed to you when we meet again in Teufort. Here are your plane tickets – don't be late."

When Miss Pauling left the pub, she couldn't help but feel relieved. She was not a woman who was easily shaken, but the latest events had taken a dramatic turn, and the Administrator had put more pressure on her shoulders than ever. Maybe these two wouldn't change anything. Maye they would die at the hands of the bots like some of the BLU had. But as the Administrator had pointed out, there was too much at stake to not take the risk. At this exact moment, Miss Pauling's mobile communication device rang. Speaking of the devil…

"Administrator. They said yes."


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's note: Hello everybody! First, many thanks to all the people who read the first chapter of this fanfic, and to those who fav'd it and decided to follow it! This is my very first fanfic in English language (like our beloved Spy, I am French) and my first fanfic for the past ten years, so I'm probably very rusty. I'm trying to make it as fun as possible, but the first couple of chapters serve as an intro to my OCs and the situation, so apologie if it's a bit boring - I have much more fun plans for the future, involving Merasmus, dubious escape plans, possibly aliens, and lots of other things. I hope you like Christina and Charlie, Christina is very easy and enjoyable to write, and I'm still working my way around Charlie but we'll get there!_

 _As this is my first fic in a looong time, I would really appreciate any criticism or comment you guys might have, so that I can improve the future chapters, so feel free to leave some reviews to tell me what you think!_

 _Also, just in case you're wondering, the palpable tension between Spy and Charlie has nothing to do with romance or being past lovers or whatever - the mystery will be unveiled, but definitely no intimacy, past or present, between them!_

 _Hope you enjoy chapter 2, see you around!_

 **Chapter 2: The new guys.**

Engie was known amongst his teammates to be the most easy-going, amiable, and welcoming of the nine mercs who had been residing in Teufort for the past six years. Everybody would have been expecting him to be happy at the idea of welcoming two new recruits and helping them feel at home – yet even he could feel hesitant, even skeptical, about this new plan of Miss Pauling's. Not that he didn't like the idea of the team expanding. In fact, he was rather enthusiastic about it – up until the point Miss Pauling announced him that one of the new guys was to be, how'd she say it again? Oh yes: his bodyguard. Well, she didn't quite formulate it like that, but that was the general feeling. And as much as Engie enjoyed company, he didn't like the feeling of being watched over like a kid. In fact, it felt rather humiliating. He didn't need no babysitter, he was a big guy who could take care of himself on the battlefield. Granted, these robots _did_ try to kill him, and not randomly: it had quickly become clear during their last battle that they were specifically targeting him, as he was desperately trying to build up his sentries, and without the last-minute intervention of Heavy, he'd probably be dead by now, as the damn robots attacked while they were doing some maintenance work on the respawn system. He had gotten out of it, wounded, but alive. That was when Miss Pauling started babbling about this whole protection idea. He had thought she'd forgotten about it, 'cause it had been a month since she last mentioned it.

But judging by the presence of the two women in their common room, she had just been more silent about it, that's all.

They had all been surprised when Miss Pauling introduced them, as quite naturally, they were expecting men to join their ranks – and had found themselves with a gorgeous, giant Scandinavian woman, who held her head up with the elegance of a swan and seemed to have the strength of a T-Rex (a strange but interesting mixture), her long blond hair tied up in a neat bun on her head. She had rosy cheeks and beautiful blue eyes, and if it wasn't for her obvious musculature and her being probably 1m90 tall, she'd be what you could call a classic Northern beauty. The other one was closer to 1m80 and much less intimidating in stature – in fact, Engie wondered if her arms could actually carry any weapon. She was of very pale complexion, her sharp cheekbones covered by freckles, and had short, red hair that gave her an androgynous look. She was most certainly in her thirties, but there was something very young about her, that Engie couldn't quite place. She wasn't what you'd call pretty, but she wasn't ugly either. In fact, she just looked like she wanted to be as unremarkable as possible – and would have succeeded, if it wasn't for her noticeable red hair.

In any case, they were not your typical women. Or your typical mercs, for that matter, and Engie didn't quite know how to feel about this.

Spy was the only one who didn't show any surprise at their arrival – in fact, he walked straight to them and greeted the Scandinavian woman like an old friend, by kissing her on both cheeks like a proper Frenchman. To the other one, he simply offered to shake hands, which Engie found quite rude, but she didn't seem to take offense, and in fact, gave him a cold stare before accepting the hand he offered, reluctantly it would seem. The three of them obviously knew each other, and from what Engie had gathered, there probably were some unresolved conflict.

This whole thing was off to a great start.

"So, Miss Pauling hired you to… help us out with the robot business?" Engie asked, trying no to sound too skeptical.

"Yes." Christina replied, very aware that the mercs did not trust them – she had been expecting it. "We were not convinced either at first. But then she explained the situation, and we think we can help. Or at least try our best."

"You guys dealt with robots before?"

"Not directly, no." Christina admitted. "But that girl over there specializes in computers and communication systems." All heads turned to Charlie, who nodded in agreement. "She can help with taking the robots down. And me, I specialize in getting between weapons and people."

"If I may." This time everybody turned to Spy, who was leaning against a wall, inhaling the smoke of his cigarette and pausing before speaking again. "I understand your concern, Engineer. But I have worked with these women before – I can vouch for them. They are more professional and efficient than they look."

"Yeah, what's that all 'bout, fancypants? Why didn'tcha say anything before?" Scout jumped in, pointing an incriminating finger at the Spy, who gave him a cold stare and shrugged. "I don't mean no disrespect ladies, but ya never know with that sneaky bastard!"

"Say what? That Miss Pauling occasionally asked me to work with outside Teufort to collect intelligence on our enemies? With the assistance of our two colleagues? Or that she did not trust you enough to tell you about it?"

Scout's face became red with anger, and he probably would have jumped at Spy's throat if Engie and Pyro had not grabbed him and pulled him back. He copiously insulted his French counterpart, who looked like he couldn't care less. Heavy was sitting on a chair, his very large arms crossed across his very large chest. He was saying very little, as usual, but observing a lot. As for Medic, he didn't seem to have quite figured out what he thought of the situation and was therefore carefully abstaining to formulate any opinion. As for the Demoman, he was lying drunk on a sofa while Soldier was pondering on whether or not he should torture his new teammates to test their resistance to… well. Torture. Sniper was nowhere to be seen, but he was watching over the horizon from his van. Since the robots seemed to attack at pretty much anytime now, they always had someone outside to keep an eye out for next wave.

"Anyway, you don't have much of a choice now. I am sorry the situation is making you uncomfortable, Mr. Engineer, but the quicker we find a solution, the sooner you will be rid of us."

Engie sighed. Christina was right. Next time, the robots could very well get them, and they couldn't afford to refuse help. Especially if Miss Pauling held them in such high esteem that they should be allowed inside the fort.

"Well, I suppose we will all have to make the best out of it." He concluded with an amiable smile.

"And vhat should ve call you?" asked the Medic, who was looking forward to experimenting on new, blank canvasses – he had just received a couple of penguin lungs that would fit very well into body cavities of all sorts.

"As I said, I specialize in protecting you from enemies and weapons. I do close combat and my job is to protect the Engineer if he is targeted again, and to protect you as well if you are overwhelmed with enemies. Miss Pauling decided I should be the Shield."

"Like a human shield? Literally? Scout's eyebrows looked like they were going to jump through the roof.

"Absolutely literally like a human shield." She smiled.

"What about tiny girl?" Heavy's deep voice asked.

"I'm not a fighter. But I know how to deal with computers and distance controlled machines. I mess them up, and when we get the opportunity, I take them down. Call me the Hacker." Charlie said.

"Mess up the bots, huh? I guess you and I will have some work to do then. And Spy, he's the sapping guy, usually. Unless you guys…"

Can't work together, he almost added, but Spy put away his cigarette and took another one.

"Our new Hacker holds resentment against me, that is true, and she as her reasons. But I trust it will not get in the way of our collaboration. Will it?" he asked, looking at Hacker with an impenetrable expression in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it." She simply replied. "So, shall we? I need to see the control room. See if there is any amelioration I can bring to our system before we get to the robots part."

"Follow me, young lady." Engie, Hacker and Spy left the room, leaving Shield with the others.

"I'm going to unload our equipment." Shield said before heading towards the exit.

"I will help." Said Heavy.

Scout watched them as they walked out the door. Great, now they had two giant brutes in the building. At least that lady seemed decent – not the kind to smash your head against a wall if you dared touching her sandwich.

Still. Scout was very upset that Miss Pauling had more trust in Spy than in him. He was way better than that frog-eating smartass. Tch, girls. Un-believable.


	3. Chapter 3

_And it's me again, with a new chapter! This one is much longer than I expected it to be, but I think I just mixed two chapters together because I wanted to be done with setting the context and dynamics of the group. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!_

 **Chapter 3: Welcome to the team.**

"HOLY SHIT THAT WAS CLOSE."

"Stop your yelling and get back to your position."

Scout had to duck to avoid a rocket before he could snap back at Spy, and before he knew it, that sneaky bastard had vanished from sight. Cursing out loud, he waved his baseball bat in the air, smashing a Soldier-bot to pieces before drawing his handgun and firing three times at the Sniper-bot aiming at their Sniper. Just about enough to warn his colleague, who spotted the bot and finished it off before lightly waving at Scout, acknowledging the service. Scout grinned but a mere second later his expression turned to a painful frown as he raised his hand to his shoulder. Fuck it. He'd been hit. Knowing that this couldn't be good, he quickly made his way back to the base, miraculously making it through the rain of bullets and other dangerous explosives hammering on the battlefield. Reaching the gates of the base he nearly saw his head viciously separated from his darling body by a Demoman-bot yielding a copy of the Highlander. Luckily, Pyro had just one out of respawn, and roasted the stupid thing before he died for the third time that day.

"Thanks, knucklehead!" he exclaimed with a smile, and dashed off to the control room. He almost tripped as he reached for the locker containing medical supplies and their precious healing kits, but finally he was able to take care of that bullet while Medic was probably out there trying to über-charge the other fat-ass. He never understood why it was always stupid Heavy who got (almost) all the über-charges: he was (nearly) just as strong and (nearly) just as brutal as he was. And he was _faster_. And more clever. And so much funnier and…

"SCOUT." Scout jumped in surprise and shot the Hacker (what he thought was) a very intimidating and angry look.

"What? Cantcha see I'm busy over here?" he barked, but she didn't seem to be listening. Sitting at her control desk, she was typing at the speed of light on the various computers that constituted the team's control panel – but since she arrived, what was previously used to monitor surveillance cameras was turned into the Teufort equivalent of Bletchley Park (or whatever name they gave to that place full of computers and codes and incomprehensible gibberish Scout had heard of). This was their first battle together, and while all the others were out on the battlefield, she was there, keeping a close eye on the monitors and observing the bots through the cameras, working on God-knew-what to take them down, as promised. And when Scout saw the look on her face, he understood that she probably had come up with something.

"I've got a job for you." Hacker stood up and picked a bag from the floor, opened it, and picked up one of the objects she had put in there. Scout raised an eyebrow.

"Da hell is that supposed to be?"

"Something to drive the bots crazy. Remember when I said I mess up with machines? Well, this is the first step towards messing with these ones."

"Sweet, but what have I gotta do with it? I smash robots! Imma force of nature, rememb-"

"Scout." Hacker interrupted, grabbing him by the shoulders, looking at him straight into the eyes. He gulped and, for once, shut up.

"Scout. Do you ever feel like the rest of the team underestimates you?" she asked, very seriously. Scout almost choked.

"What? No way, I'm awesome, and they know they can't deny…"

"Are not you tired of seeing the good Doctor rushing to heal Heavy or Pyro because they have more fire power than you do? Of merely being seen as an _annoyance_ for the other team? Don't you dream of something bigger?"

Scout stood still, his jaw hanging as he was wondering how she could have read in his mind. Did she read his diary? No, she couldn't possibly have done that – first of all because it was _extremely well_ hidden in his bedroom, and second, because his handwriting was so terrible, even he couldn't re-read what he'd written. But wait, she was an expert in codes and deciphering stuff, wasn't she? What if she had read his diary? Oh God. That would be so embarrassing. He snapped back to reality as she was shaking him like an apple tree.

"Wowowowowoh STOP shaking me, woman!" he exclaimed, grabbing her ridiculously thin arms (thinner than his, if such a thing was conceivable). "Okay, yeah, MAYBE I DO want to do something real big someday and show 'em they shouldn't underestimate me. So what?"

"So. This is your day, buddy." She said with a malicious smile as she put an electronic device in his hand. He looked at it, puzzled. It was the size of an insect, small as a fly. What the hell were these? "These things are electromagnetic controllers. They're based on Spy's sappers, but they're much smaller and more… elaborate in their effects. Namely, they can affect the robots, and they can affect their behavior."

"Right. And what exactly am I supposed to do with'em ?"

"I need you to go back on the battlefield and pin these little things down on the robots. They are magnetic, so as long as you place them somewhere near the robot's head they will stick and be able to work their magic. I'll take it from there, but it is vital that you stick as many of them on as any robots as you can. You're the fastest on the team and your job is to distract the enemy, _only you_ can do that and go undetected."

Scout's chest inflated with misplaced pride, and a spark of joy briefly illuminated his eyes.

"I'm in!" he exclaimed, then grabbed the bag and dashed away before she could add anything. Too bad for him, she had made a point about getting wired on all their communication devices, so it took only a couple of seconds before he heard her quiet voice in his headphones.

"Give a handful of them to Sniper. Tell him to use them like he would use a bullet, that will do the trick."

"Heck no! Imma be the hero of the day! WATCH OUT FOR THE AMAZING SCOUT, YOU BUNCH OF JERKS."

Hacker sighed and shook her head, but couldn't repress a smile. A smile that quickly disappeared when an all-too-familiar accent resonated across the room.

"Well done. I see your diplomatic abilities have not changed over the past few months."

"Do you need anything, Spy, or can I go back to what I'm doing?" she replied, coldly, without even looking at him. She wasn't good at being angry. She never yelled on people, never got furious, never broke anything – but when she felt resentment towards another human being, she closed up like an oyster. She didn't want to talk to him – she didn't even want to look at him. Because she knew that if she did, she would have to confront him.

"You _do_ know that we will have to talk about it. If not for the sake of our past collaboration, at least to ensure nothing will interfere in our work here." He said, his monotonous, detached tone preventing her from detecting any sort of emotion in his voice. She hated it when he did that – she liked to know what the people around her were thinking, and she was really good at that. Facial expression, body language, and of course voices – she knew the clues by heart, but Spy knew her tricks and used them against her. There was a time when she found that amusing, as she thoroughly enjoyed riddles and Spy was one in the flesh, but now, with what had happened between them, she found it plain annoying. She wasn't in the mood for guessing games, and she certainly wasn't in the mood for talking.

"I know. But now is not the time. I need to…"

"OHMAGAD WHAT'S HAPPENING?"

Scout's high-pitched voice in her headphone snapped her attention back at her screens. Spy immediately saw the unusually ferocious smile on her face. That was the smile of triumph. Quickly, she started typing on her keyboards and lines of codes appeared on the three screens that constituted her console.

"Hey Hacker! What the hell is going on?!"

"That, my dear Scout, is the sound of victory. Did you manage to put the chips on the bots?"

"Yeah, not all of them, but a good chunk! What do I do now?"

"Now, you sit back and enjoy your triumph."

She pressed the Enter button. Spy looked at the surveillance screens, on which he could see the action on the battlefield.

He saw a dozen of robots stop moving, interrupted in their movement. They seemed to quiver, before their lifeless, lightbulb eyes shone again, as if they just rebooted.

Then the Demoman-bot that almost cut Scout into two turned to the Medic-bot standing next to him and kicked it so hard the Medic-bot miserably fell on its back. Further away, a Sniper-bot and a Scout-bot were dancing a waltz together, while a Pyro-bot and a Solider-bot started running repeatedly into a wall together. The whole team watched in complete astonishment.

Sniper was the first to let out a "Bloody hell." in his mic. Then Hacker and Spy perceived Heavy's really loud laugh and Pyro's happy mumbling, while Engie said "Well, I'll be damned" with a smile in his voice. "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeha! Nat so CLEVER now arr ye, ye bunch of eejit?!" was Demo's contribution to the group commentary, to which Soldier solemnly added "THIS IS THE WORK OF SWEET AMERICAN JUSTICE. LESSON LEARNT, DISGUSTING ROBOT NAZI MAGGOTS."

On her screens, she could see Medic and Shield looking at the robots running in the wall, while Scout was trying to smash another one that had decided to imitate a horse (as much as a robot could, of course) and was galloping everywhere. When they all got tired from the spectacle, they resumed the fight with the remaining bots.

"Very impressive, I have to admit it." Spy conceded. "Can I make myself useful, or are you going to make all the robots look like childish imbeciles and watch them destroy themselves by running off the cliff?"

"I don't have enough chips for all the robots, and it would be impossible for Scout to chip them all anyway. Go push the rest of them away with some backstabbing – isn't that what you do?"

Spy almost replied, but held the words back and walked out of the room. The battle was over, and won. For now.

"Yeah I did that! Ran through their lines of defense, chippin' them so fast they didn't even notice! One tried to blow me up but man, I promise you, _I_ wasn't the one who got blown off!"

Pyro merrily clapped while Scout was telling him about his exploit of the day for the 41st time. The jukebox ad been turned on and was playing in the background, giving the common room a festive atmosphere that had not been felt in a while at the RED base. Demo had gone back from alcohol-shopping and was handing out bottles of beer to everyone and everyone seemed in the mood for partying and celebrating their first victory against the Mann robots in a long time. Engie was especially pleased with the way everything turned out, and when Shield and Hacker came back from their briefing with Miss Pauling, he walked towards them and opened his arms wide enough to put a hand on one shoulder each – the height difference between the three of them was kind of comical, especially since he was one of the shortest men of the team, but he didn't mind.

"Ladies, I owe you an apology for my doubts about you earlier. Especially you, Shield." The Scandinavian woman smiled and shook her head.

"No offense taken, Engineer. I know it must have been difficult for you to adjust." She replied while Hacker was sneaking off, trying to disappear in a corner, but her exploit of the day had attracted attention to her and Pyro ran at her and gave her such a hug, she thought her lungs were going to explode.

"Well, I'll admit I was worried about you getting' in my way while I was doing my job, but you didn't at all. Always at the right spot at the exact right time. Took a huge weight off my shoulders, not having to look out for robots all the time. Good to work with you, partner."

Shield smiled even more, giving her usually dignified and austere expression an air of kindness that weirdly suited her. They shook hands, sealing their newfound friendship.

Engie was really relieved to see how well things were going. The first few days with the new girls had been a bit awkward, but they had quickly managed to adapt and somehow fit it. Ten days had passed since they arrived, before the attack, and they had made themselves they own little hole in this strange place and team. Shield was very much appreciated by her peers: behind her Northern-war-goddess looks she was a woman of great generosity, with an incredible strength both of body and mind, enough patience to listen to Scout's babbling for hours without showing any sign of lassitude, and she was protective with the whole team without being maternal. She was more of a guardian, ensuring her team's wellbeing and security, and her knight-like sense of loyalty and integrity had quickly earned her everybody's trust and esteem. She was a hero, in the true sense of the term, a female version of those wandering knights who defend the weak and right the wrong in the old tales. On the battlefield, she somehow managed to have everybody's back, jumping in to protect them from bullets with her armor and the actual shield she used both for protection and as a weapon. She, contrary to Scout, was a real force of nature, to be reckoned with, and her teammates had developed a great respect for her.

She really was something, and Engie was extremely curious to get to know her better. And especially how she got to pair up with such a peculiar character as Hacker.

"Everyone, let's raise a toast. To our new recruits, and to Mann's defeat. May it be the first of a long series." Engie said, raising his bottle of beer. Everyone imitated him and cheered.

"Hey, Hacker!" Scout slid on the bench and bumped into her, causing her to nearly drop her own bottle. He passed an arm around her shoulder and made his beer cling against her. "We did it, pal! That was FREAKING AWESOME."

"Yes. Tiny woman did good work." Heavy approved, sitting on a chair across the table.

"We make a good team you an'I! Hey, d'ya like to play baseball? I usually play on my own since the rest of them _suck_ at it, but now that we're basically buddies, I thought I'd make an exception for ya!"

"I am… honoured, Scout, but you're basically breaking my neck right now." Hacker pointed out, her throat compressed by her new friend's arm. Between him and Pyro, that was definitely a lot of hugging in one night. Not that she didn't like it (except when it put her life in danger, which seemed to be normal in this team) but it was exhausting, all this human contact. She didn't even get to breathe when Scout finally let go of her – both he and Pyro grabbed her arm and pulled her after them as they were going to fetch the boardgames they had all agreed to play for the night.

Christina smiled. She had been worried that Charlie wouldn't fit it, or wouldn't even bother trying, but it had turned out she had found her own place too. She was usually too shy, too rebellious, too insolent too, to bond with other people. She had always been too clever for her own good and had been seriously damaged by past emotional disasters with other people. Her acute mind was paired up with an acute sensitivity and Shield knew her partner had trouble dealing with the never-ending flow of thoughts and strong impressions and emotions in her messy head, which had led her to cut herself off from others as much as possible, like a wild cat avoiding other cats in order to not get more scratches than it already has. But the team had somehow accepted her just that way. Christina knew she was particularly fond of Pyro's genuine and disinterested kindness, and she was the only one who'd spend time drawing with him and inventing stories for his fluffy toys. Scout's incredible energy seemed to be contagious, and Christina could see that she had been won over by his cheerfulness and assurance, and he was bringing out her own mischievous and youthful side. Medic particularly appreciated her intelligence and her love for puzzles and chess, and when they were not playing against each other, she could be spotted watching Medic and Heavy playing, and giving Heavy a few tips that made the game much more interesting and less frustrating for the good doctor – and Heavy appreciated her patient advice. Even Sniper seemed to have taken her under his wing, as he enjoyed her quiet company. And sometimes, she, being English, would have passionate debates about politics with the ever-so-Scottish Demoman.

Things were going really well, Christina thought.

"So, how did the two of you meet?" Engie finally asked, unable to hold back his curiosity. "If you don't mind askin', of course."

"It's a rather long story." Shield replied. "I do not want to tell you anything about her without her agreement, but I can tell you a bit about how I got there."

"I'd like that very much."

"Well, I was born in Stockholm, in Sweden. I was not really destined to be a mercenary, but life is full of surprises, I guess. I have a very good voice, and I became an Opera singer when I was just eighteen."

"An Opera singer? That's unusual for a merc."

"I warned you." She smiled. "I had a good career. Toured across Europe, had many first roles. I met my husband when I was twenty-four. We got married a few months later, and we were very happy… Until I found out he was involved with the local mafia and had a bounty on his head."

"Darn. What did ya do? Left him?"

"No. Shot him, collected the bounty, and fled the country before his 'colleagues' could get to me. I went to China and trained in martial arts for ten years. Then I went to Russia, then to the United States. Worked here and there as bodyguard for a lot of people. And seven years ago, I met Charlie, and we decided to team up. We've never left each other ever since."

"Wow." Engie's face expressed astonishment. "That's a very impressive resume you've got there. Without getting into details, is hers as packed up with adventures as yours?"

"Charlie? Her story is shorter, as she was only twenty-seven when we met, but she has had her fair share too. She will tell you herself when she feels like it."

Engie nodded, looking at Scout, Pyro and Hacker coming back, their arms stacked with boxes of boardgames and cardgames.

"You got any kids, Shield?"

"No. Never had the opportunity, never really wanted to either. I am not the maternal type. You?"

"Yeah, one kid. A thirteen year-old girl. Her name's Annie. Having you gals with us sort of reminds me of her more often than usual."

"You miss her?"

"Sure." Engie smiled, and Shield spotted a hint of melancholy in that smile. "But I'm starting to tell myself, I'm gonna learn from you both, and I'm gonna make sure that when she grows up, she becomes as intelligent and strong a woman as you both. She lives with my sister back in Texas, but when I get back there I always tell her stories. For once I'll have a real story to tell her 'bout my job that does not involve drunk Scotsmen or Australians who pee in jars and throw them at their enemies."

"Sniper does that?"

"The hell he does."

They both laughed. Then Shield patted Engie on the shoulder, and walked towards the table where everybody was starting to gather while Scout and Hacker were arguing about the rules of Cluedo. Engie smiled, detached himself from the wall, and joined the rest of the gang for their first lighthearted night of games in months.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ahoy, friends! Long time no see, but I got super busy with life and kinda left the story aside... but I'm back, and so are Christine and Charlie, aka Shield and Hacker! This chapter is longer than usual, has a lot of useless stuff, but it helped me get back in it so, well, thought I'd leave it like that. Hope you enjoy it though. As always, feedback is always appreciated, and thank you to those of you who follow this story!**

"No."

"Oh, c'mon Engie!"

"I already said no, Scout."

"Pretty pretty pleaaase! C'mon I'm BEGGING you here!"

"I don't have time for your games Scout! In case you haven't noticed, we're at war with Mann Co and those darn robots, and while you're just runnin' around playing baseball, some of us are trying to work out a plan!"

"That's exactly mah point! If you built me a baseball machine, like, a sentry that throws balls instead'a bullets, or even an actual robot that could keep up with mah game, it'd save us sooo much time, 'cause I wouldn't have to run 'round askin' everybody and they wouldn't lose time telling me to fuck off!"

"What about Hacker? She grew tired of ya already?"

"I dunno where she is." Scout sulkily admitted, crossing his arms across his chest.

The Engineer let out a long sigh, putting down the blueprints he was working on in the common room. This was supposed to be his break, but he couldn't help it – when his mind was onto something, he had to work on it all the way through, even if it meant sacrificing the few precious minutes he had of free time. It was sunny outside, and not too warm for once – bless the beginning of Fall and its milder temperatures- so he figured everybody would be outside, practicing or wandering 'round or just minding their own business. And overall, he was right. Except for Scout. Who was bored. And to be honest, a bored Scout was even worse than a normal one.

"Look, she's probably somewhere outside, I heard her sayin' she wanted to go downtown to see the library. Why don't you go check it out? You guys could go play on the actual baseball field behind the building."

Scout's face lit up in an instant.

"You're a genius Engie. Thanks buddy, I'll see ya later!" he exclaimed before dashing off, while Engie shook his head and sighed again. He picked up his pen and was about to dug back into his calculus, but he heard the door opening again. As he was about to tell Scout to get lost, he looked up and held the words back.

"Hacker! Wasn't expecting you there. So you're actually running from Scout?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"He's not here, is he?" Hacker asked, popping her head through and looking around the room.

"Haha! Nah you're good, I just sent him to the library, thinking maybe you'd be there. I expect he won't be in for the next hour or so."

"Bless you, Engie." She sighed as she entered the room, her shoulders relaxing. "Mind you, Scout's a great lad. But his constant babbling, that's too much to handle. One more minute and I'd have strangled him on the spot."

Engie couldn't sympathize more. He could see why she would find it difficult to be around Scout all the time – she was much quieter, and he suspected she was the kind of person who needed their own space from time to time. A luxury Scout hadn't really granted her ever since he decided they would be pals, and the team had seen Hacker coming up with surprising, and sometimes incredible tricks to avoid Scout when she couldn't stand him anymore. Engie was pretty sure she know the fort and its hiding spots better than all of them, and she had only been there for what, two weeks?

Engie reached for his mug of coffee and took a sip, only to wince when he realized he had left it aside for too long. Hacker noticed.

"Is it cold?"

"That's what happens when Scout monopolises your attention for too long. I'm gonna make some more."

"Let me. You stay seated and enjoy the few minutes of tranquillity you might have today." She headed to the kitchen counter and grabbed both the coffee machine and the empty pot. Engie looked at her while she was taking care of the refill. Neither she or Shield had received their uniforms yet, and were content wearing more or less red clothes to mark their belonging to the team. Right now, Hacker was wearing a red tank top and a pair of military trousers tucked in her boots. Until now she'd been mostly wearing hoodies, especially in the workshop or on the battlefield, and Engie hadn't really noticed that her muscles were actually showing when she moved: he thought she was too thin, too fragile for such a job, but now he could take note of her biceps, and of the narrow, but square shoulders. Her neck was thin and delicate like a ballerina's, but she held her head high and strong, like her Swedish counterpart. Engie realized he'd been wrong. He thought she was nothing but brains, to compensate for a weak, teenage-like body; he could see now that there was more to her than she let on. What he could see was the body of someone who clearly wasn't cut for the job, but had to adapt and worked hard to, anyway. He was about to say something, when the door opened again and Sniper stepped in.

"Well, I'll be damned. Is Scout leaving drawing all our lone spirits back to the base? How's it going, pal?" Engie joked as the Australian put his rifle on the table.

"Ran out of coffee. Thought I'd swing by and get some. Need ya ta have a look at my rifle too, if ye don't mind." Sniper replied in his low, soft voice.

"Hacker's making coffee as we speak, today is your lucky day, boy. Take a break and let me have a look at your gun."

Sniper didn't ask twice and sat across the table just as Hacker came back with the coffee pot and two new mugs. She poured the fresh coffee into Engie's mug, then Sniper's – he nodded at her, his way of saying 'thanks' – and she sat next to him, helping herself some hot coffee as well. Engie raised his mug to his lips, noticing for the first time how well those two fitted together. It wasn't that rare to see the Hacker finding refuge in Sniper's van when she grew tired of Scout's harassment, and Sniper shooting at him before they would drive away, probably enjoying each other's quiet company and her drinking coffee while he'd practice his already exceptional shot. At least that's what Engie had pictured in his mind. He grabbed Sniper's gun and started fiddling with it, when two voices grew more distinct as their approached the common room, only for Shield and Medic to make their entrance.

"And do not forget your stretching exercises, it iz very important for your arm if you want zhis nasty cramp to go away."

"Thank you herr Doktor, I really appreciate."

"My pleasure, fraulein Shield."

"How's your arm, Christina?" Hacker asked.

"Better now, this Spy-bot had hit a nerve. But the Medigun worked its magic, it would seem." Christina replied, carefully moving her arm around.

"Great. We're going to need everybody on board for the next wave, I don't expect Gray Mann to go easy on us after last time. But today, let's enjoy a bit of tranquillity and…"

Engie was never able to finish his sentence: a buzzing sound resonated across the base before all the lights went black. All the mercs in the common room froze. Engie handed Sniper's rifle back to him, while the Aussie straightened up and looked around, ready to aim and shoot; Medic looked confused while Archimedes popped in and landed on his shoulder; Shield felt her muscles tensing up, and Hacker was the first to open her mouth:

"What's that? Spy-bot again?"

"Nah, prolly more like a power outage. I'll go check the generator." Engie replied and stood up.

"I'm going with you." Said Shield. Engie was about to say that he'd be fine on his own, but he saw the determined look on her face and instead had a grateful smile, and nodded.

"WHY IS EVERYTHING DARK? WHO STOLE THE GLORIOUS AMERICAN LIGHTS? MAGGOTS!"

"We should probably go before Soldier starts breaking everything." Hacker remarked, rising from her chair.

"MEEEEEEDIC. I CUT ME FINGER WITH ME BOTTLE O'SCRUMPY."

"Ach. Dummkopf." Medic sighed grumpily.

"Let's all go before the whole base blows up."

The gang nodded in agreement with Sniper, and they all headed towards the generator room at the back of the fort. It was already dusk and the corridor didn't have any windows: the only light sources came from the windows inside various rooms they walked by. After their teammate's screams had ended, everything seemed very quiet. Unnervingly so, according to Hacker who walked close to Shield. The wooden floors creaked under their feet, and Sniper held his rifle a bit tighter. Something wasn't quite right, and he didn't like it at all. Should an enemy jump from the shadow, he wasn't equipped for close combat, and that wasn't a nice feeling. Engie and Medic walked ahead, silent, listening intently.

Suddenly, something rose from the shadows, and threw itself at their feet while letting out a loud, agonizing cry.

"WUAAAAAAZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH" screamed the gang, Hacker jumping to grab Shield's jacket.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaah IT'S YOU MAGGOTS."

"… Soldier?" Engie said, aghast. "What the hell are you doing, wandering around in the base… Naked?"

"THE LIGHTS WENT OUT. MY CLOTHES ARE NOT DRY YET."

"Don't tell me you don't have another uniform?"

"PYRO BURNT IT. I GAVE IT TO HIM TO HE WOULDN'T BURN THE MIGHTY AMERICAN FLAG INSTEAD."

"… right, well, we're going to check the generator, see if we can bring the power back. If you're comin' with us, put on some pants. We have ladies here."

Naturally, Soldier ignored the request and decided to take the lead to the generator room – much to Christina and Charlie's embarrassment, although it wasn't the first time Soldier had showed up naked in the vicinity. This man seemed to have a natural tendency to exhibitionism.

Hacker was feeling uncomfortable, and not only because of the idiotic Soldier's outfit –or lack of thereof. She'd never been keen on darkness. Growing up in London, she'd always leave a small light on so that she could read under the blankets if the shadows in her room became too… threatening. Now a thirty-four year-old woman, she had learnt how to crack incredibly intricate codes, resolve complex mathematical problems, shoot a gun, and whack down any threat coming her way. Yet, she was still scared of the dark. Well, wasn't that embarrassing. Walking close to Shield and followed by Sniper, she kept an eye on Engie's yellow construction hat, like a reassuring anchor in this stupid corridor. The sooner they brought the light back, the better. Not to mention that it would be dark outside soon, too.

"Here we are. Just give me a sec." Engie said as they approached a heavy metal door with a red warning sign on it. The Texan searched his pockets, frowned, palped his belt looking for the keys, then let out a frustrated "Dang-nammit." He sighed. "Seems like I left the keys in mah workshop. If you boys – and girls – wanna wait here, I'll be right back."

"Wait, Engineer. Hacker can take care of it." Shield said, laying a hand on his shoulder and glancing at her friend.

"What, ya telling me that this girl can also pick locks?"

"What's so different between cracking a code and a lock? Besides, we weren't always in a war against robots. We had to find other ways to make a living, and she has a certain talent for opening doors."

"Well, you'll need ta tell us that story sometime."

"Yes, well, if you don't mind." Hacker jumped in, interrupting them. "I'll get cracking on it. And I need space, and silence."

Shield couldn't repress a small smile as Hacker was kneeling down, grumbling in the beard she'd never have. Soon she was focused on the task at hand, fiddling with her tools and listening intently for any indicative noise from the door. The rest of the group remained silent, as requested, while she worked it out – a couple of minutes later, a very recognizable click resonated.

"There we are, buddies." She said, standing up, only for her shoulder to bump into a giant, unknown, threatening volume. She couldn't help it and let out a scream while throwing a fist into the invisible enemy. The massive form didn't even flinch, but she felt an acute pain go up her fist and arm, all the way up to her shoulder.

"GODDAMMITBOLLOCKS." She yelled, holding her hand in pain.

"What did little girl do that for?" She immediately recognised Heavy's voice and blushed, realizing she had just made a fool of herself. A warm light appeared behind the Russian giant, coming from Pyro's lighter and letting her see Heavy raising an eyebrow, visibly unimpressed and slightly annoyed by what must have felt like a mosquito sting. She mumbled something and stepped back behind Shield, not even letting the good Doctor check her arm. She didn't want anyone to see how red she was. Of shame. And pain.

"I panicked." She grumbled. Engie found it difficult not to laugh, but figured she would resent him if he did – however, he looked at Shield and saw she probably followed the same train of thought. Great minds think alike.

"Alright, let's have a look at this bad boy." He stepped into the room, followed by Pyro and his lighter while the others stayed outside – in the distance, they heard the base's door opening, the noise of someone bumping into the metal lockers, and a very pissed "AOW. Who turned off the lights? Ya think you're funny, ha?". Scout was home. Engie had a quick look at the generator. Strange. Somebody had turned off the main command. But no one had the key save for him, and he hadn't been in there for days. Engie frowned. What was the meaning of this? Pondering on this mystery, he turned the generator back on and the lights immediately came back with a buzzing sound. The group let out a sigh of relief.

"Good. Woulda'been a hell of a problem if the bots had attacked us while the power was out." Engie remarked.

"So vhat happened? We never had an incident like zhis before."

"Wish I knew, Doc. The power was turned down, but I don't know who could have…"

Nobody expected what happened next. At the precise moment they all felt like things were back to normal after this short, but worrying interlude, a sound pierced through the air and made them freeze on the spot. It wasn't just a sound. It was a voice. A very terrified, high-pitched voice, that kept screaming for several seconds straight. And they all knew who it belonged to.

"Baby-man has trouble." Heavy's calm, but focused voice brought them back to their senses. They all rushed back to the common room ; Sniper kicked the door open and took aim, ready to shoot at any target that wasn't Scout ; Medic held his Medigun ready ; but all they saw was a very pale Scout who had fallen to the floor, shaking, and visibly scared to death. Hacker and Engie rushed to his side.

"Easy, pal." Said Engie, holding the unfortunate Scout by a shoulder while Hacker was kneeling by him. "What in Heaven's name happened? Don't tell me ya saw a robot in there?"

"N-n-n-n-n-not robot! G-g-g-g-g…"

"Take it easy Scout. Take a deep breath, and tell us what you saw." Hacker said, forgetting her own fright from earlier.

"G-g-g-g-g… _GHOST_."

He raised his finger, pointed frantically at the door on the other side, the one facing them when they entered the room. They all looked up, aghast, but saw nothing. Sniper, the only one of them who had his gun with him, carefully crossed the room, closely followed by Shield. Facing the door, they looked at each other, and when Sniper nodded, Shield opened the door. Quickly, Sniper scoped through the door, looking for an intruder. Slowly, he walked into the corridor, his eye glued to his rifle's scope while Christina walked right beside him, ready to jump between her colleague and any danger. But truth be told, they didn't see anything.

"That corridor is empty. Oi think ye just dreamt it, mate."

"I didn't dream nothing! It was right there! Ran when you guys barged in!"

Shield was about to say something when Sniper gave her a light push. Christina looked down at him and was baffled to see the usually composed, imperturbable Sniper had gotten dead pale. He tilted his head forward, and she followed his stare. For once in her life, Christina could not believe her own eyes.

"… My friends, I'm afraid Scout was right. It seems like there _is_ a ghost in this base."

 **There we are, things are getting serious now! THE BASE IS HAUNTED. Or is it? How many ghosts? What will the gang do? Where the hell are Spy and Demoman? (tbh, 11 characters are a LOT so I just left them out but they'll be back soon enough). How are the mercs going to hunt the ghost(s) down? What pairs/teams would you like to see for the ghost hunting chapter(s) ?**

 **Also, I have an idea for another story, which has been at the back of my mind for some time, about a young woman who wakes up in a pod after the mercs find her in an abandoned enemy basement. She is persuaded that she somehow landed in a videogame - but did she? Obviously expect a lot of Matrix inspiration, but just wanted to ask if this is something you'd like to read. See you next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello there! Here's the fifth instalment for this story. It's time for some ghostbusting! Thank you to Doctor Wheel for your contribution in the reviews section: I decided to follow the teams you suggested, hope you'll enjoy the result!**

 **Happy reading everyone!**

* * *

After their brief, but intense encounter with a so-called ghost, Shield, Sniper and Scout had attempted to describe it to their colleagues yet again – alas, their descriptions were as vague as they could get. In his terror, Scout had hidden his face in his arms, praying for the ghost not to attack him, and Shield and Sniper only saw it for a brief half-a-second before it vanished at the end of the corridor. Shield had rushed after it, but to no avail. The pale, misty shape had simply disappeared.

The team was divided. Some believed that their colleagues had experienced some kind of collective hallucination, while other thought there was something more to it, and probably a very rational explanation at hand. The others suggested they called an exorcist, but their suggestion was largely ignored by the rest of the group. In any case, the majority thought there was someone, or at least something, roaming around their base. Which, in the present state of affairs, they could not afford. Not with waves of robots putting up a fight on an all-too-regular basis. At least they all agreed that something needed to be done, and decision was made to split up. Nobody was to be left alone (Hacker and Scout had seen enough horror movies to know it would be a _terrible_ idea), but they needed the whole base covered.

Shield had decided to go look for Spy, who was momentarily missing. Scout, who had had the fright of a lifetime and didn't want to be left alone with any of the other dumb-heads (who were all making fun of him for his girlish scream from earlier) had clung onto her like a kitten to its mom. Even if it meant hanging out with Spy eventually, Scout knew staying with the cool-headed, unbelievably strong Shield was the safer bet in the eventuality of another encounter with a terrifying soul-eating ghost.

"I can't believe it. An actual, real-freakin' ghost in da base." Scout repeated for the third time as they were headed to Spy's smoking room. Scout had grabbed his baseball bat, refusing to be taken by surprise once more, and held it ready to aim and whack some heads off. "I mean, ya saw it too, right? I ain't been dreamin'!"

"I am not sure what we have seen yet, Scout." Shield tempered. "I do not believe in ghosts, but this was very intriguing, to say the least. I wonder if Spy caught anything on his radars."

As they walked up to the door, and Shield was about to knock, the lights suddenly went off again. Scout gasped and grabbed Shield's jacket.

"Chrissy, if we die here, I want ya ta know, I'm real sorry I broke your window the other day – even though Pyro could'ah aimed better." He said very quickly, looking everywhere for the ghost to pop out of the shadows and axe him down. The poor thing was shaking from head to toe. Shield couldn't repress a smile.

"So it _was_ you, little monster." She simply replied, but he ignored her. Scout had started calling her Chrissy not long after they first met, when he realised that Christina was pretty much the only person in the team (possibly in the world) who would listen to him without complaining or telling him to shut it. As for Shield, her patience and undeniable talent at communicating with people had gotten to Scout, who grew a bit calmer in her presence, as she was the only person in the world _he_ would listen and obey to. Of course, in front of everybody else, he acted like his usual self, but they all knew Shield had become some sort of substitute big sister to Scout – the kind of big sis' you would rely on, whose authority you would never question, whose shoulder you'd cry on when you got your heart broken, and who'd tuck you back in bed after a nightmare. And yes, they all knew for a fact that the latter actually happened, despite Scout's protests. Demo had seen everything and, of course, by the next morning, the whole team had known about Scout's babysitting session.

Shield knocked at the door and listened to the footsteps that came on the other side. The door opened, giving way to a visibly irritated Spy and a lit match, probably the closest thing he could find to a light source when the power had gone off again.

"Ah, it's you. May I enquire as to the meaning of all this? I heard a very loud squeak earlier, but I was not sure whether it was Hacker or Scout." he asked.

"Hey, watch your filthy mouth, chucklenuts! An' for your information, I don't squeak."

"Right. Shield, would you care to explain?"

"There is something roaming around the base. Something that looks like a ghost." Spy raised an eyebrow and shoot her a I-thought-more-highly-of-you look, to which she responded with a at-least-let-me-finish glance. "Before everybody panics, I wanted to know if you had caught something on the detectors."

"None of the alarms went off, if that is what you are asking, but it is worth having a look. Come in." Shield entered the smoking room, Scout on her tail – but Spy blocked the entrance and tried to close the door on him. "Not you, Scout. You would just be a nuisance."

"Hey! Don't lemme outside on my own! Haven't ya been listenin'? There's a freakin' ghost around here! C'mon Spy, don't be a dick, for once!" Scout cried out, trying to wedge his way through the door as Spy was trying to close it to his face. Shield sighed, suddenly feeling like a mother witnessing yet another immature argument between her two teenage sons. Except that neither of them was a boy anymore. Especially not Spy.

"Spy, let him in. I promise he will be quiet. Right, Scout?" She said with a pacifying tone in her voice, laying a hand on Spy's shoulder. Spy looked up at her, then sighed and reluctantly let the Bostonian in. Christina was too nice. One day, her tolerance to nuisances would wear off. He had warned her repeatedly, but when he did she either shrugged or smiled. Shield always smiling – she very rarely laughed, and her smiles weren't of the bright, blinding kind. She always smiled as though she had something to conceal or knew something about her interlocutor even they didn't know. People instinctively trusted her, partly for that way of smiling knowingly. In the few years they had known each other, Spy, surprisingly, had been no exception to that.

Guided by the faint light of the match, they all walked up to the small screens on Spy's desk, monitors enabling him to keep an eye on what was happening in the base. They were running on independent batteries in case of an event such as this one, and they all sighed in relief when they saw they were still operating. It wasn't a secret to anyone that Spy had hidden cameras scattered around the base (one day Hacker came out of the shower, fuming with rage, with a camera Spy had forgotten to take out of the showers now used by the team's ladies, and everybody thought she was going to stab him to death with his own knife) (several had hoped she would) (but he had cloaked and disappeared for the next 24h).

"Whadda hell? You still have a camera in _our_ shower? Whaddaya keep dat one for?!" Scout exclaimed, right out outraged.

"Focus, Scout, we have more important issues at hand here." Spy replied, undisturbed. He rewound the tape, and the three of them looked at the latest footage from the cameras, half-hoping half-dreading to see the strange white figure appear on one of them.

* * *

"I dinnae ken about ye lads, but I 'ave a bad feeling aboot this."

"Chill out, Demo. If there's a ghost comin' fer us, oi'll put a bullet right between his eyes 'fore he can blink."

"That's not how ghosts work, ye eejit!"

"Don't worry sister, Merasmus once told me that if you see a ghost, you need to cut off your own hand and stab yourself in the eyes with your fingernail! I know you only got one left but if we stab it twice, maybe…"

"Soldier, ye are NOT stabbin' me in the eye!"

At this point, Hacker was barely listening. While Medic, Heavy, Engie and Pyro had gone off to tour the base and check the installations, she, Soldier, Demo and Sniper were stationed in the rec room, keeping an eye out in case the ghost would come back and finish whatever it had set out to do before they had barged in following Scout's screams. The four of them had elected to wait on the sofas, surrounded by the few candles they had been able to gather in the hope of getting some light when the power had gone out again, but they were starting to feel like the candles only made it _worse_. A candlelit room looked so much creepier, when a ghost was (allegedly) up and about. Sniper didn't seem too bothered by the situation: he held his rifle between his legs, and occasionally looked around, but wasn't tensed like some of his colleagues were. Had seen too many weird things in the outback and since he joined the TF Industries to be worried about an ectoplasm. Soldier was weirdly enthusiastic about all this and kept coming up with 'reassuring' tips for his teammates (swearing that if the ghost came and killed them all, he'd hold their hands and splattered insides until their final breath, and _only then_ would he consent to die himself). Hacker and Demo had the opposite attitude: the very nervous Scot was too sober for this shit, not to mention he hated ghosts with a passion. His native Highlands were notorious for their haunted castles. Well, let him tell ye, these were not legends and fairy tales. He'd seen them himself. A shiver went down his spine as he recalled his dreadful encounter with the ghost of Duncan McDonald (nicknamed "Toothless Duncan") when he was just ten. Never. Again. Or so he thought. As for Hacker, she had never been the superstitious kind, but she didn't like surprises and hated unexplained mysteries she couldn't crack. Ghosts were definitely out of her jurisdiction, and Demo's nervousness was definitely getting to her.

"What is taking them so long?" she asked for the third time, looking at the door where Scout and Shield had vanished just ten minutes earlier. Her legs were folded on the couch and she was holding them tight, in a kind of foetal position that would suit a scared child – not a grown-up woman who had defeated an army of robots with her brains. Sniper would find it pretty hilarious if he didn't think she would resent him and enrol Engie to ruin his van's engines out of revenge. Instead, he sat quietly, while Soldier, having noticed Hacker's uneasiness, had set out to comfort her.

"Worry not, lady, I will defend us if the ghost comes here! There's nothing a good shovel smack in the face can't fix! I'll run around the base and hunt it down – naked, if need be!" he exclaimed with a massive smile on his face.

"Oh please, keep yer clothes on Solly, we've seen enough of yer delicate constitution for the next three years." Demo grumpily said. Hacker couldn't agree more.

"I know! We must tell scary stories!" Demo and Hacker gave Soldier a deadpan look, but he completely ignored them. "It's dark and scary like a sweet American Halloween night! And it's good for the morale of the troops! That's team building for you maggots!"

Neither Demo nor Hacker could see how telling scary tales was going to improve their morale, but Soldier was so determined, he had already started telling one of his personal favourite, about a killer with a hook in a house at night; Demo and Hacker imperceptibly moved closer to each other, conscious that it was them versus Soldier – since Sniper obviously had no intention of helping whatsoever and even seemed to _enjoy_ the story. Traitor.

"Heh, that was a good one mate."

"Ha, glad you liked it, Bilbo Baggins! Your turn now!" Sniper still had no idea who Bilbo Baggins was, nor why Soldier kept on calling him that, but at this point he'd given up on trying to find out.

"Alroight. Did oi ever tell ye about the Lady in Blue in Port Arthur?"

"Sniper, stop it. Now." Hacker said, a threatening streak in her voice.

"Wot? C'mon Sheila, it's just a story!" Sniper protested.

"Don't you even dare Sheila-ing me, love, or I will steal Soldier's shovel and smack you with it." She threatened. Sniper instantly knew she was dead serious. Although, she was notoriously weak as a kitten – he momentarily considered what a fight between them would look like and decided it was worth telling the story.

"And I'll help the lass out and ye won't like it when Scotland and England go full United on ye!" Alright, if Demo was getting involved, maybe not. Sniper sat back sulkily. He loved telling stories around a good campfire – he secretly loved Halloween for that reason, 'cause Soldier and Pyro would always have a fire outside, get some marshmallows, and they'd spend the whole night outside telling stories and spooking each other out. Engie was pretty good at it too. Too bad he wasn't there. Maybe he could have talked some sense into the two British chickens sitting on the other couch. He knew Demoman had never been comfortable with ghost stories and the likes, but that was taking it to a whole new level. Good for him that Spy wasn't here to witness this pitiful spectacle.

Hacker was furious at herself. She knew ghosts weren't real, and even if she had seen her fair share of unbelievable events in her life, supernatural beings weren't part of it. That didn't prevent her hyperactive brain to let loose and already come up with the craziest scenarios, each scarier than the last one. She had always had a particularly vivid imagination, and it usually served her well, but the flip side was how intense things could get as soon as she started thinking about _bad_ things. She couldn't help it. Even if somewhere, somehow, she know it was completely irrational, her brain had no filter to help her heart slow down. Not to mention that Sniper and Soldier were terrible at reassuring her, and Demo only made it worse. She couldn't wait for Shield to come back. Or to go to her bedroom and lock herself up for a few hours before being able to face her teammates again.

A clanking sound came from the kitchen. Sniper straightened up and stared at the kitchen counter while Soldier stopped picking his nose. Demo gasped with a squeaky sound and grabbed Hacker's arm – she did likewise, her face turning even paler than it already was.

"What was that?" she asked in a breath, her fingernails unconsciously clawing into Demo's jacket.

"It's the ghost. I'm sure it's the ghost – och we're doomed!" Demo lamented.

"Don't be stupid mate, probably ain't nothin'. Oi'm gonna have a look." Sniper said, standing up and making his way to the kitchen space just a couple of meters away, his rifle hanging to his shoulder. Hacker and Demo stayed on the sofa, anxiously following him as he bent over the counter, looking intently. He walked around it and explored the space next to the stoves, the drawers, the dishwashing machine.

"Can't see anythin'. Oi'm guessin' it was a mouse, nothin' to worry about. It's probably more scared of ye that ye're of it." He concluded and was about to make his way back to the group when he noticed the expression of sheer terror on Demo and Hacker's faces. His blood froze in his veins. In an instant he grabbed his kukri and raised his arm as he turned around, using the handle to hit whatever was standing behind him.

Pow. Hit right in the face.

The silhouette fell to the ground with a solid bump and let out a cry of pain. A ghost that could feel pain? His heart racing in his thorax, he quickly grabbed a candle and lit the space. Instantly his facial expression went from intense concentration to utter surprise.

"Crickey!"

* * *

"Didn't ya boys hear somethin'?"

"Da. It was like mouse getting stepped on its tail."

"Hmphh hmph hmm. Hmpf hmphemhomhy hmf hmphay."

"I'm sure they're fine, Pyro. If anything was wrong, you can be damn sure someone would'ave already called the Doc by now."

Medic rolled his eyes to express the sheer exasperation Engie's words inspired him. It was more than enough to be called upon every boo-boo on the battlefield – he had no intention of dealing with his teammates' panic attacks too. His beloved colleagues had taken in the bad habit of assuming he was always around to fix them whatever the problem was, and Medic felt like his talents were under-appreciated despite the numerous medical miracles he had already performed to save them all –including, but not limited to, creating the Medigun itself. Well, technically he imagined it and Engie built it, but still. And with everything he did for them, he received little to no gratitude. All of them ran away when he casually mentioned a new experiment he had in mind that necessitated a volunteer – talk about returning a favour. He had hoped that Hacker would be different, since she had shown an interest in his experiments (smart mädchen, this one), but she had run away as soon as he had suggested to replace her liver with a baboon uterus. What a disappointment.

Holding onto his torch, Engie led the way, escorted by Heavy who held his fists ready in case something decided to jump at them in the dark, Medic and his ruminations, and Pyro, walking a few steps behind and playing with the shadows the torch cast on the walls. Since the generator had gone out again, they were headed to the external one to see if it had been disturbed as well.

Engie let out a sigh. He didn't like that, their power source going off when they could be attacked by a new wave of robots at any time. Sure, they'd won their last battle quite brilliantly, as Shield and Hacker had proven how much of valuable new assets they were, but he wasn't too enclined to believe the war was won. Gray Mann would come back, maybe even with new robots copying their new teammates. The ladies had given them a momentary advantage, but how long before Mann would make it even? And then what?

Oh, and also, the ghost thing. He wasn't too sure about that. An enemy spy who made it into their base and was now lurking around, trying to set them off and gather intelligence at the same time? A distraction?

His thoughts were interrupted when they got to the second generator. Heavy took his keys and opened the door, looking in to check that it was just the four of them. Clear. He nodded to Engie, who went it and looked at the multiplicity of wires and buttons only he could understand.

"Vell, herr Engineer?"

"Looks fine to me. Whatever our friend the ghost is doing, it hasn't been down there yet. Let's lock the door on our way back and ask Spy to keep lookin' out through the cameras. Might be worth getting to the surveillance and communications room to make sure something's been mingled with there."

The walkie-talkie at his belt chirped. He took it out while checking the connections one last time.

"I'm listenin'."

"Engie, Shield here. Everything alright on your end of the base?"

"Hey pardner." He replied with a smile. "Yep, all good here, looks like the ghost only messed up the first generator, so we're good for now. What news from the western front?"

"Not much I'm afraid – except that Sniper just knocked out Miss Pauling, but that's irrelevant to our little problem. Or more like a casualty." Spy intervened.

"Hold on, Sniper did what?"

"In his defence, she did sneak up on him, even if she didn't mean to." Shield added. "Anyway, you'll see the footage later. Spy, Scout and I are still looking at the camera footage from earlier. We haven't found the 'ghost' yet though."

"Could it have been Miss Pauling? Maybe Scout just saw her and in the dark mistook her for a ghost." Heavy butted in, Medic nodding at his side. Pyro was playing with their lighter, mimicking a rabbit with their fingers and casting the shadow on the wall.

"Hey, I know what Miss Pauling looks like, thank you very much!" Scout's outraged voice sounded even higher than usual through the walkie-talkie. Engie sighed and lightly shook his head. Medic rolled his eyes again.

"Alright boy, no need to get all flustered. You guys keep looking, we'll be back 'fore ya know it."

He hung the walkie-talkie back on his tool belt and turned to his teammates.

"Well, looks like we're not done with this mess yet. Shall we?"

"Ach, zhis is ridiculous and a waste of our time. Vhat "ghost" vould find it enjoyable to turn a light off again and again?" Medic ranted. Heavy gave him a compassionate look, knowing very well that their dear Doctor was not the most patient of men. Thank God for the rest of the team, Heavy excelled at listening to him ranting for hours, sparing the others the effort to do likewise. In that regard, Heavy was a real saint, surpassing even Engie – who was generally amiable and well-behaved, but was known for his occasional temper (during which staying _away_ from his workshop could become a question of survival).

"I am tired of zhis nonsense. Can we get on so zhat we can all go back to our work?" Medic asked impatiently.

"Point taken Doc. Let's get going then…"

"I think Pyro has already left."

Engie looked at Heavy, then looked around. Pyro wasn't in the room anymore. Strange. Pyro wasn't usually the type to abandon everybody behind and go wander in the dark alone, especially at a time of crisis.

"Pyro? Parden, you around?" Engie called, stepping into the corridor and flashing his torch in both left and right. No one. Puzzled, he and Heavy exchanged a worried look. Meanwhile, Medic repressed a sudden urge to sigh.

Great. Now Pyro was missing.

What next?


	6. Chapter 6

**Time to bring the ghost-hunting to a conclusion and solve the mystery. I'm not a 100% satisfied with the way it came out overall, but I'm happy I did these chapters as a way of trying out a bit of action. I'll go back to the main MvM action from the next chapter on, I'm also thinking of having shorter, more character-centric chapters to develop the TF2 characters as well as the OCs, what do you guys think? Do you want to see more action, more humour, or more character development? Are you happy with the balance between the characters, or do you feel that I focus too much on the OCs?**

 **In any case, thanks for following this story, and enjoy your reading!**

* * *

"A séance."

Demo's suggestion was only met with deadpan looks from his colleagues, half of them wondering how much he'd been drinking, the other half hoping he was joking, only to read in his only remaining eye how dead serious the man was. After Pyro had disappeared and Miss Pauling nearly got knocked off by Sniper's reflexes, the whole team had decided it would be more reasonable to gather in Spy's smoking room, where he was still going through the night's footage. Medic had set out to patch up Miss Pauling's bleeding nose while Sniper apologised for the third time; Heavy, Engie and Shield, who were probably the most cool-headed ones in the team just now, stood a bit aside, discussing Pyro's mysterious disappearance. Engie couldn't help but feel guilty for having left the little firebug out of his sight, and Shield was trying to reassure him about their friend's fate. Pyro was probably somewhere in the base, playing with their lighter. There was nothing to worry about. Engie stroke his square jaw, unconsciously rubbing his scruff, his eyes behind his goggles fixed on a point on the floor. He appreciated his colleague's optimism, but he knew well enough that with Pyro, things could sometimes get a little out of hand. Ectoplasm or not, there was an intruder in the base, and should anything happen to Pyro, he'd never be able to forgive himself.

Meanwhile, at the camera monitors, Spy kept looking through the surveillance footage. Hacker had taken a seat by his side and, for once, was joining efforts with him as they both silently watched the images, looking for the one detail that would lead them to the solution to this mystery. Standing behind them, Scout was nervously fidgeting. Demo's idea wasn't doing anything to help him relax, either.

"Nothing on this one." Spy said, switching to a new video.

"Nothing here either." Hacker replied, sitting cross-legged on the chair. "I'm starting to think we experienced some sort of collective hallucination." Spy thought to himself that it would not be too surprising. "Wait. Did you see that?"

Hacker paused the video, rewound it by one minute, while Spy was leaning in to look at her screen. When he was ready, she pressed the play button – behind them, Scout watched intently too, expecting to see the ghost jumping at the screen any moment. Instead, what he and Spy saw was footage from a corridor in the west wing. And nothing happening. Just an old, empty corridor.

"I can't see a thing, doll." Scout exclaimed.

"Because you are not looking, Scout." Spy responded coldly. "Even though I will admit, except for that loose sheet of paper on the floor, I do not see anything out of place. I wonder if the Doctor or the Engineer left it there."

"It's not the paper I'm interested in, love. It's what it does. Look more closely." She said, and pressed the replay button. Spy and Scout both focused even more. Spy raised an eyebrow. How did he miss that?

"It's moving." He noted, and looked at his new colleague's pale face, almost tempted to confess his being impressed by her eye for detail. Her green eyes were fixed on the screen, and judging by the look on her face, they had reached the same conclusion. Scout was growing impatient.

"Big deal! There's a draught, so what?"

"How could there be a draught when there is no window in this corridor, Scout?" Spy explained. Scout couldn't find a suitable answer, so he backed off, sulkily crossing his arms and mumbling.

"Do you know of any hidden door or passage here?" Hacker asked, leaning on the back of her chair.

"No. If there is one here, it escaped our attention. It would be surprising, but not entirely impossible. Our predecessors built a number of secret passages from one base to the other, and we have the plans and locations of most of them, but it is possible that one or two were not in the reports and maps of the place when we arrived." Spy admitted. He stood up and opened his cigarette case, tucking one between his lips and walking away as he lit it. "I am going to go and check. Are you coming?"

"Do I have to?" Her green eyes were lit with a snarky sparkle, but when she saw that Spy was completely unphased by her little provocation, she ostensibly rolled her eyes and reluctantly stood up. "Fine. But if we get into any trouble, you do the fighting."

* * *

The two of them remained silent, as they left the room and made their way towards the west wing. Heavy had offered to escort them, in case of danger, as neither of them qualified as a strong fighter, but Spy had brushed it off and reminded him that he too was a trained assassin, thank you very much. Hacker had just shrugged and followed on Spy's footsteps, pretending she didn't see Shield looking at her with a perplexed look. The relationship between Hacker and Spy had not improved one bit since their first battle: at best they would ignore each other, at worst Hacker would drop a snarky comment here and there, mostly when Spy was trying to give her instructions. Everybody took it as a sign of Hacker's notorious difficulties with authority. Her attitude to him was that of a teenager with a teacher they didn't like, and while it amused Scout or Sniper, the others found themselves slightly worried that this could get in the way of their efficiency at work. Occasionally, Engie or Medic would turn to Shield, asking her if she could speak to Hacker. And she did. And when Christina took the time to sit her down and talk to her, it usually meant it was very serious – Hacker knew she and Spy were good friends, but it wasn't the only reason she was trying to patch things up between them. Ever since _that day,_ something had been broken. And Hacker was all too conscious of the problematic nature of her behaviour. She just couldn't help it. Like earlier, when she had asked him if she really had to accompany him – she could have abstained. Why couldn't she grow up, for God's sake? Walking a couple of steps behind him, she looked up, gazing between his shoulderblades. Looking for something to say, while her brain was screaming for her to keep her mouth shut. Torn between her resentment and the rational certitude that she had to let go of it.

Did Spy have a third eye behind his head? He turned around, his piercing gaze meeting hers.

"Are you thinking of stabbing me in the back? I would remind you that it is my specialty, not yours."

"Hilarious." She commented. Then, thinking of Christina and her request, she let out a sigh and mustered all her strength of will, before walking up to him and adding: "I… just wanted to say. I apologize about earlier."

Spy was momentarily taken aback, but quickly regained composure.

"About what? Your sarcastic comments anytime you get the chance to make one? Or supporting Scout's childish pranks towards me like last week?"

"… both, I guess."

Spy was unable to find an appropriate answer. He was wondering what could possibly be going on inside his colleague's head for her to apologise out the of blue, but he knew her well enough to assume that Christina had probably spoken to her – and that whatever she said, it had made its way to Hacker's brain. She had probably been thinking about it for days. Spy sighed, as they arrived in the corridor they had spotted on the screen. The sheet of paper was still there. Spy bowed down and picked it up, only to realise it was one of Scout's infamous sketches of him with the Eiffel Tower.

"Apologies accepted. May I take the opportunity to suggest we finally make peace?" He asked, folding the drawing and putting it into his jacket's pocket.

"Well, to be fair, you _did_ leave me to die in that basement." Spy didn't need the reminder. He pushed the memory away at the back of his brain.

"You know the decision was not mine to make."

"I know. It's just a bit hard to swallow, even after two years. Even you can understand that, can't you?" For once, there was no contained anger in her voice. Just a genuine, resignated plea for his understanding. Maybe not his compassion, but for his patience. He looked at her as she kneeled to the floor and started pressing on the wall, looking for the thin opening or hidden button that would lead them to the secret passage.

"I will admit, we used to make a rather good team." He said, puffing on his cigarette. "I just wish we could have this back."

Hacker nearly stopped and turned around, not sure whether or not she should believe her ears. Such declarations from Spy were rare enough to be noted, even if she knew he was right, from a professional point of view. Her heart ached a little. She focused on the task at hand and didn't reply, trying to ignore the turmoil that was stirring up again in her head. Of course they made a great team. The Spy and the Hacker, the two sneakiest, most resourceful of mercenaries – employing similar techniques, complementing each other rather efficiently, one infiltrating the enemy from the inside while the other would infiltrate their information systems. She used to enjoy their missions together, when Miss Pauling would send him out of Teufort to lend them a hand. She used to believe they were friends. Sort of. Spy was her friend, at least.

But as usual, she seemed to have expected too much. She found that throughout her life, she had had a tendency to grow attached to people too quickly – and the feeling was seldom, if ever, reciprocated. She hated herself for behaving like a moody teenager most of the time, for pushing people away even when all she wanted was nothing more than to actually be their friend. But she couldn't help it. She had been disappointed one too many times, and even if she blamed herself for her failures, she had figured the easiest way to deal with it was to avoid bonding with people altogether. Yet, she failed even at that. She liked people. Despite everything, despite the attitude she was trying to portray, she could still feel that spark of interest and affection towards certain people who, she thought, echoed something in her. Spy had been one of them. Until that one mission, that for some reason when unexpectedly wrong. Spy had to make a choice: save her, or salvage the mission.

She knew it wasn't a real choice. She knew he had been right to act the way he did.

She knew she couldn't blame him. She shouldn't.

Still. It hurt.

It was Christina who had gone back in the building in flames, and had managed to drag her out of this hell. Spy wasn't even there when she had woken up, after several days in a coma. Had gone back to Teufort, as Miss Pauling had instructed him. Things had never been the same ever since.

Her fingers lingered on the wall, looking for the opening that was causing the draught. She knocked on the concrete, lightly, repeatedly, trying to find an echo. After five minutes, she raised her head to her colleague.

"I've got something here." Spy came closer and inspected the wall as well. Without a word, the two of them pushed hard against it – first to no avail, but after a few seconds, they heard a click, and the panel was drawn back, revealing a hidden door. Drawing his revolver, Spy slowly pushed the door open, revealing a staircase going down in the basements.

"Looks like we're in for an adventure." Hacker said, searching her pockets to find the tiny torch she usually used to looked at computer components.

"Let us get on with it. I am afraid our drunk Scotsman will start blowing things up if he keeps seeing ghosts at every corner."

Side by side, they went down the dark stairs, only guided by Hacker's mini torch and Spy's faint light coming from his cigarette. When they reached the end, they discovered a hollow corridor, in which their footsteps resonated. There was only one door, all the way to the back. A thin ray of light was coming from under it, and as they came closer, both of them could hear the faint sound of a human voice. Spy slid near the door and silently grabbed the knob, casting one last glance at Hacker, who nodded in return. After one short breath, he pushed the door open and immediately took aim at the intruder.

When he identified them, he lowered his gun, an air of surprise and exasperation on his mask.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked with a sigh, as he and Hacker stood there, looking at Pyro and a tied up Merasmus begging for mercy.

* * *

"A wizard? As in, an actual wizard with magical powers?"

Shield could barely believe that Spy wasn't joking when he confirmed it with a nod. Twenty minutes after they had left, Hacker and Spy had returned, escorted by a visibly unscathed Pyro and carrying a new character who had been neatly tied up like a French saucisson. Pyro had dropped him on the floor, and the man had let out a small squeak before staring at all the mercenaries, half furious, half terrified. Shield had been surprised to see all her colleagues' expressions range from resignation to anger to downright exclaiming "Oh God, here we go again". Only Soldier had shown some sign of happiness, as he had exclaimed: "Oh, look! Merasmus is visiting!". Engie scratched his head under his helmet, quiet exasperated.

"Exactly like an actual wizard, pardner. Usually he comes an' try to stir up trouble on Halloween, dunno why we didn't suspect a thing… Who else could'a created a ghost to spook us off?"

"We were focused on our battles with the Mann robots." Spy pointed out, leaning against a wall. "If you think about it, it was actually a rather clever move. Some might say, too clever for an idiotic magician like him. Too bad for him Pyro saw him retreating to his hiding spot and followed him down this secret passage."

"You will pay for this, puny humans!" Merasmus shouted, before meeting eyes with Heavy. The Russian giant took just one step towards him, tensing up the muscles in his shoulders, a cold, deadly light glowing in his blue eyes. Merasmus gasped. "Alright, fine! You've won yet again against the Great Merasmus! Can you please let me go now?" He asked very quickly.

"Now wait a minute, you bleedin' eejit! Yer not goin' to get away with it! Not 'til I beat up yer ass proper and send ye back to the limbs where ye belong!" A very angry Demoman would probably have kept his word, if it hadn't been for the joint efforts of Medic and Hacker to hold him back.

"Hey, I agree with Cyclops'ere guys. Or maybe we should let Pyro roast the shit outta him!" Scout butted in, holding his baseball bat like he was ready to use it. Luckily for Merasmus, Miss Pauling had no intention of ending the day with a murder (even if killing Merasmus could turn out to be a service to humanity) that she would have to justify in her report. The young woman pushes her glasses back on her nose – winced when a sharp pain went through it, reminding her of Sniper's excellent survival skills – and spoke up:

"Nobody's is roasting anyone, guys. I'm going to take him with me back to HQ, and the Administrator will decide what is to be done with him. Sniper, I'm going to have to borrow you and your van to drive him there." She sighed as the Australian grabbed Merasmum and dragged him all the way out. "Jeez, when I think I only came here to deliver Hacker's and Shield's new uniforms. Talk about easy assignments."

"We're real sorry for all this, Miss Pauling. Things have been pretty crazy today, as you can probably tell." Engie apologised. At least the lights had gone back when Merasmus spell had ceased its effect, and the whole base seemed to be back to normal. The magician had confessed to creating the ghost that had almost killed Scout with a heart attack, and it seemed he had acted in his own accord – otherwise, the robots would probably have attacked when they were most vulnerable. But even this conclusion didn't seem to appease Miss Pauling, who grumpily walked to the suitcases she had brought with her – one visibly more massive and heavier than the other.

"Miss Pauling, Engie's right, and it would be a shame to end the day on such a distressful note. What about you staying with us for dinner?" Shield intervened, taking Miss Pauling by the shoulders. "I wanted to try a new recipe for a risotto tonight, it would be lovely to have you join us.3

Miss Pauling looked up at the imposing Scandinavian lady, who was all smile as she waited for her answer. How the hell could she have known that risotto was her favourite dish? Sometimes she wondered if Shield was not a mind-reading wizard. She couldn't even be mad at her. Miss Pauling briefly hesitated, then sighed in resignation.

"Alright, apologies accepted if the risotto is on the menu." The whole team let out a sigh of relief. Angry Miss Pauling was much more dangerous than she let on. The last time it had happened, she had confiscated all of their new weapons for a whole month. Which an awfully long time to be deprived of new weapons, when you were in the middle of an endless war, respawn or not.

"Hacker, here's your uniform. Comfortable and practical like you asked, and a bullet-proof vest in case of an intrusion while you're working on the computers."

Curious, all the mercs leaned in, trying to catch a glimpse at the outfit as Hacker was taking it. They all knew she wasn't a fighter – her role wasn't supposed to be on the battlefield, but she had to be able to move quickly if her presence was required outside, or if she had to flee the zone for any reason. Her uniform thus consisted of a pair of black jeans, and a red zipper hoodie, underneath which she would wear a white t-shirt and the protective vest. She had also inherited sneakers, in which she would be able to run more comfortably – and probably faster. Finally, she received a leather kit she could strap to her belt and her leg, to contain whatever electronic equipment she needed to hack into cameras, plant microphones, or sap robots. She looked very satisfied with the result.

"As for you, Shield – oh God, this is heavy." Miss Pauling dragged the bigger suitcase and opened it. "We got it made following your instructions. If there is any problem with the size, let me know and we can send it back for modifications."

"It looks perfect, Miss Pauling." Shield smiled, as she took out the detachable armour from its case. A thick breastplate, protections for her arms, stomach, back and legs made up for a solid cuirassier-type of armour, but the material seemed lighter and more flexible than the usual metal plated armours one could see on old paintings of knights and warriors. Bringing a modern twist to the knight in a shining armour, Shield's protections were equipped with a cooling system to prevent her from exhaustion due to the heat, and instead of the tradition mail mantle under the armour, she was going to wear long, black running tights and a red long-sleeved running top. She joined Soldier in the rangers boots club, and saw her arsenal, consisting until then of her trademark shield, completed with a short one-handed sword and a musket.

"Wicked! Hey Shield, ya should bring a horse on the battlefield and yell FREEDOOOOOM when chargin' the robots." Scout exclaimed, way more excited about this outfit than anybody else. Pyro clapped with enthusiasm. "Put it on, put it on!"

"Ah, if you insist, little monster." Shield sighed with a smile, everybody thinking that she didn't need a lot of convincing. "Charlie, come and help me, I might need assistance for the first try."

* * *

When they returned, both trying on their new uniform, Miss Pauling couldn't repress a very satisfied smile. Hacker looked like a stereotypical young nerd but looked very at ease in her streetwear outfit – she had an absolute freedom of movement and wouldn't be slowed down by any superfluous equipment, while have the possibility to carry her informatics an electronical gear around. As for Shield, she looked incredible in her red and silver armour, light enough for her to be quick on her feet, but resistant enough to take in damage for her teammates. Powerful. Intimidating. A crusader ready to take down the enemy heretics.

"That. Is. So. COOL." Scout exclaimed, jumping around Shield before turning to Hacker. "Hey, that's a cool outfit too! Look, we're kinda matching!" He added, grabbing his new friend by the shoulders to make her stand by him and compare their clothing. The others laughed at Hacker's facial expression as she was squeezed against the Bostonian and his lack of awareness of people's personal spaces.

"I gotta admit, that's mighty impressive." Engie said, visibly interested in the high-tech armour. "I gather I'm gonna be in charge of this beauty's maintenance, y'know where to find me if you got any problem with it."

"Hey Engie, dat's the _lamest_ way of asking a girl to undress I've ever heard." Scout commented. Hacker punched him in the ribcage as Engie inevitably blushed.

"Quit it Scout, that ain't no way of speakin' of our new colleagues." He argued back.

"Alright, before we all start jumping at each other's throat, I would very much like to try out Shield's risotto." Miss Paulign intervened, unable to repress a smile blossoming on her face.

"Yes! I want the most glorious food to celebrate our ghost-hunting American triumph! Hurrah!" Soldier approved, raising his fist in the air. When Sniper returned after escorting Merasmus to the HQ cells, he found everybody getting ready for a promising and cordial dinner. The kind of dinner that hadn't had in a long time, and that would almost make them forget about the threat roaming outside, waiting to strike back.


End file.
